WI to host SL and India for a tri-series

Sri Lanka's two-match Test tour of the West Indies in May 2013 has been scrapped to play instead, an ODI tri-series involving India, according to a report.

The tri-series tournament will be played from June 28th to July 11 2013 and will be hosted in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. It will have seven matches with each team contesting the other twice before a final.

West Indies will play the opening match of the tournament against India at Sabina Park on June 28 and two days later, will face Sri Lanka.

Three matches will be played at Sabina Park while four matches, including the final, will be staged at Queen's Park Oval.

The report also said that,with the scrapping of the Test series, players from both the countries would now be available for the IPL which runs from April 3 to May 26, 2013.

The two countries were scheduled to play two Tests, three ODIs and two Twenty20s as per the Future Tours Programme.

SLC chief executive Ajit Jayasekara said the WICB had put forward the idea, and his Board had agreed to the change in schedule after holding discussions.

According to a Cricinfo report, Jayasekara said scheduling an ODI series instead of following the FTP would end up being "more lucrative for the board".

He denied that the Test tour was scrapped to avoid a clash with the IPL. Incidentally, national Boards receive 10% of each player's salary from the IPL.

Earlier, the WICB corporate communications manager Imran Khan said that the Indian Cricket Board has agreed in principle to the tri-series.

This will be the second time Sri Lanka have foregone a Test series which clashes with the IPL. In 2009, they declined to replace Zimbabwe in England, when Zimbabwe were unable to tour for political reasons.

In 2011, several players, including Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, missed tour matches playing in the IPL ahead of a three-Test series in England, which Sri Lanka eventually lost 1-0.